If someone were to ask Lin Jiu what kind of person Sword Monarch Wei Liang was, the first things that came to her mind would be ‘drama king’ and ‘flirt.’
But that’s not how he was portrayed in the novel! Even after he and Liu Qingyin bonded as a Dao couple and ascended together, the male lead maintained his aloof demeanor, only occasionally letting slip a hint of tenderness. So how had this lofty, unattainable cold flower of the high peak turned into something entirely different when it came to her?
With a sense of helplessness, Lin Jiu glared at the man who kept spouting nonsense with a straight face.
Wei Liang pulled her back into his arms—Ji Yuan is here!
With Lin Jiu in his arms, Wei Liang took a step forward. His sword shot out ahead, slicing through the sky with a dazzling radiance as it aimed for the devil cultivator enveloped by the thunderclouds in the sky.
Liu Qingyin was in the process of adjusting her breathing, while Murong Chun guarded her and intercepted ambushes from the rear. They both knew that Wei Liang hadn’t yet recovered from his injuries, and he stood at a disadvantage against Ji Yuan.
Devil cultivators did not cultivate with weapons; they cultivated raw Intent. As such, when one’s primordial spirit was damaged, it became near impossible to defend against a devil cultivator’s attack.
Ji Yuan was still thousands of meters away, but for top-tier powerhouses like them, such a distance was practically face-to-face.
A crimson wave of devil aura surged forward, turning the space into a sea of red. When the distance closed to a thousand meters, the wave roared up, forming a terrifying crimson skull in midair, its massive jaws snapping around Wei Liang’s flying sword, swallowing him in one gulp.
The crimson skull showed no signs of slowing, and in the blink of an eye, it was upon the two disciples. Murong Chun and Liu Qingyin did not waste time and immediately summoned their ultimate techniques to counter the attack: a full moon blooming alongside countless crabapple blossoms.
The moment the skull touched their sword aura, it scattered into countless crimson worms, shattering explosively.
Meanwhile, Wei Liang strode forward with Lin Jiu in tow, walking directly toward Ji Yuan’s onslaught. With a casual flick of his sleeve, he froze the crimson skull into fine ice particles that tinkled down from midair.
“Left side?” he asked casually, glancing down at the woman in his arms.
But Lin Jiu was already captivated by the scene before her. Once Wei Liang froze the crimson skull, it no longer looked frightening. Every piece of red ice shimmered beautifully in the sunlight, and walking underneath it gave her the sensation of stepping into a crimson ice palace, filled with mesmerizing and surreal reflections.
“It’s beautiful!” She exclaimed in awe.
Wei Liang’s lips twitched. “This… is beautiful?”
Lin Jiu nodded enthusiastically.
Wei Liang: “…” ‘My little wife’s taste is truly…one-of-a-kind.’
A few steps later, they were finally face-to-face with Ji Yuan. The legendary high devil was an extraordinarily handsome man dressed in crimson, his brows as dark as ink and lips as red as blood. Seeing the breathtakingly seductive face, the novel’s steamy depiction after he kidnapped Liu Qingyin suddenly surfaced in Lin Jiu’s mind: the hot, deep growls, the ragged breaths, the agile movements, the involvement of the blood puppet… recalling them made her cheeks flush inadvertently.
Thanks to her knowledge of the spoiler, Lin Jiu found herself being allured by this cunning and experienced devil cultivator.
‘Stay calm, stay calm!’ Lin Jiu shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, and refocused on Ji Yuan’s left hand. Both of his hands remained concealed within the wide sleeves of his red robe, showing no signs of abnormality.
Upon seeing Wei Liang, the high devil raised his sleeves and gave a courteous bow, like a refined actor on stage. His voice carried a wicked charm as he spoke, “Greetings to the Sword Monarch. It’s my honor to meet you.”
At the utterance of “greetings,” Wei Liang’s flying sword swiftly flew back from behind, effortlessly maneuvering through the crumbling ice crystals like a streak of white beam, aiming directly at the left arm.
But Ji Yuan continued his bow without the slightest disturbance. From the void behind him, one blood-red skull after another exploded, blocking Wei Liang’s sword until he had completed his bow. By the time he finished his sentence, over a hundred illusory skulls had been destroyed by Wei Liang’s sword.
As the gesture concluded, Ji Yuan’s form seemed to ripple like water, dissolving into thin air.
Wei Liang’s flying sword struck nothing, embedding itself into the ground.
“Heh… heh heh heh…” A sinister laughter echoed, bouncing off the falling ice crystals and reverberating in all directions. “Sword Monarch, your swordsmanship… has not improved but declined!”
Lin Jiu suddenly felt a bit groggy. She blinked and focused her gaze, only to see a flash of red weaving through the shattered remains of the crimson skulls. Everywhere the red figure passed, it left behind an eerie crimson line, tracing out a shape that resembled a hexagram.
Crystals of shattered ice continued to rain down, but the crimson pattern remained perfectly still, etched in the air. This strange fusion of movement and stillness filled Lin Jiu with a sense of unease. “Be careful—it looks like he’s setting up an array,” she whispered urgently.
Wei Liang’s thin lips curved up into a slight smile.
Above them, Ji Yuan’s voice drifted down, ethereal and ominous, “Come! Devilblight Mindshatter!”
His words seemed to materialize, merging with the crimson lines he had drawn. The lines solidified rapidly, forming a vast, semi-transparent crimson array above Wei Liang and Lin Jiu.
Wei Liang brought his fingers together, summoning his sword. The sword embedded in the ground hummed as it lifted into the air, slicing toward the crimson lines.
Yet, this strike—one that could seemingly cleave even the heavens—passed right through the crimson array without encountering any resistance.
“Heh,” Ji Yuan chuckled softly. “No need to waste your efforts, Sword Monarch. I have been preparing this for many days, just waiting for the right moment to offer it to you on a silver platter… Tsk, had I known your swordsmanship had regressed to this extent, I wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble.”
The crimson array began to glow, its nodes lighting up one after another as the flowing light passed through them. After the lights flickered by, the array started to flash erratically, like a malfunctioning light bulb.
The wild flashing left Lin Jiu momentarily dazed. She barely let out a small grunt, just as a large hand gently covered her face, blocking her vision. Wei Liang’s cool scent, now familiar to her, wrapped around her like a soft, protective cloak. She blinked against the warmth of his rough palm, her long lashes brushing against his calloused skin, and unexpectedly, a wave of calm settled over her.
‘Wait, hold on!’ Lin Jiu suddenly noticed that the karma lotus in her spiritual sea was gradually spinning faster. The wisps of ethereal crimson lines from the array were being pulled into her spiritual sea, eagerly devoured by the lotus as if it were nourishing sustenance…
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Translator’s note:
Hello everyone, I’m happy to announce that AerialRain now has gotten additional helps, which allow us to take two more projects! Let us introduce you to His Secret Guard and Marrying the Short-Lived Villain, both having historical settings. We are still adjusting our schedules here, so the two new titles will have irregular schedule for the time being. Hope you all enjoy them!
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